1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, a print apparatus, and a job processing method thereof, and, more particularly, to a printing system and print apparatus capable of accepting a plurality of jobs, and a job processing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional printing industry, a publication is issued through various processes. These processes include entry of a document, designing of the document, layout editing, comprehensive layout (presentation by printing), proofreading (layout correction and color correction), proof (proof print), block copy preparation, printing, post-process, and shipping.
The commercial printing industry uses an offset reproduction printing press in the printing step, and the block copy preparation step is inevitable. However, once the block copy is prepared, it is difficult and disadvantageous in cost to correct it. In block copy preparation, therefore, careful proofreading (i.e., careful layout check and color confirmation) is indispensable. Some period of time is generally taken until a publication is issued.
Most of apparatuses used in respective processes are bulky and require expert knowledge, and know-how of experts is essential.
In this situation, a POD (Print On Demand) printing system using an electrophotographic or inkjet print apparatus has been proposed in recent years (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2004-310746 and 2004-310747).
The POD printing system eliminates the aforementioned block copy preparation and other complicated processes.
However, there is room to study on practical use of the POD printing system.
For example, a configuration with a dolly-attached finisher (stacker) is examined in the POD printing system on the assumption of handling of many jobs and the use of an offline post-processing apparatus. The stacker has a front door, the opening and closing thereof is restricted, depending on the situation, in order to stably discharge many jobs. When removing a printed material discharged inside the stacker, the operator must perform a series of operations to input an instruction with the front door open key of the stacker, move down the tray to the dolly, and open the front door.
The series of operations is done even when a small number of sheets are outputted to the stacker. Even if a small number of sheets are erroneously outputted to the stacker, the operator must wait for several dozen seconds for the series of operations to run its course before taking out the discharged sheets. The occurrence of such a circumstance may lead to downtime in the POD environment, a situation where efficiently processing a plurality of jobs at a high rate of productivity is crucial.